Tristan in Print

Last night I attended the Comics for Freedom Rally. In truth, it was not a rally, but a stimulating packed comedy club full of enthusiastic free-speech supporters. If journalists got out to support their own like these comedians do, I doubt the Human Rights commissions would remain the plague they are today.

The show featured 40 comedians, each given a minute each to offend the audience. From intergenerational sex, to feces, to kicking over baby carriages, the comics definitely gave it their best and, for what it is worth, I found myself laughing through the majority of the event. This was a fantastic event. Though when the evening began there were as many audience members as there were staff and comedians, by the time the show was started, the place was packed. I will try and get the official numbers for everyone, soon.

Guy Earl, the man of the hour, was there to get the audience going and came out at last as comedian #40 to end the night. I was glad to shake his hand afterwards and was among many who wished him the best in his fight. Also, while I talked to a couple of other bloggers beforehand to see if I could drag them out, I did bump into blogger Fenris Badwulf, who has also covered the event.

Looking back, the ‘rally’ couldn’t have been more positive. I hope that more events like this one will be hosted across Canada. While there is strength in a community of bloggers and webforums, everyone should have the chance to see firsthand how people can be mobilized in the real world to fight the good fight.

Yesterday two people were shot at my regular coffee spot. Local talk is that the shooter simply decided to start something with the man and woman at the By the Way Café and shot them both. We all knew sitting in a Range Rover was an act of provocation, but it is coming as news to some that even sharing a meal or a smoke on the patio is now fair game for the armed psychotics that call Toronto home – and there are a good number of them. We can all rest easy though – since these are obviously all people signed up with the Federal registry, all we have to do is wait for the gun clubs to get closed down. That failing, our mayor is certain we can just have the US overturn all of its gun legislation.

If you hear a dull clapping noise on a warm summer breeze in the GTA, that’s just the sound of City Hall patting themselves on the back as they take their summer vacations and enjoy a job well-done.

I will return to the Café this Saturday for a bite in solidarity, before the Comics for Freedom Rally set for 9PM.

A new poll suggests that a mere 17% of Canadians cite national values as an influence over foreign policy. While the number suggests that Canadians understand just how unmoved their governments can be moved by any sense of moral obligations, even these realists probably aren’t aware of just how unmoved it is. When it comes to the UN peacekeeping force in Sudan, Canada has contributed a whopping 7 members in total.

While I remain a skeptic of the UN’s ability to resolve international problems, I am glad to see that the International Cricket Council remains the major player in Zimbabwe - another country where international action is cut off at the knees by a heavily interested Chinese investments.

First off, don’t take this the wrong way. A lively debate is a good thing. A deep-rooted mutual disgust that allows for both vitriol and cheap-shots is even better. It was while reading the most recent libel suit to come to my attention – Kinsella v. Levant (June 23/08) – that I had to take a moment to keep from waking the neighbor’s children with my profanity.

I do not need to go into any significant depth about my feelings regarding Levant or, for example, Steyn. They are the current champions of free speech in Canada, which to me is unfortunate, given that their political agendas and interests encompass a range of topics diverse enough to alienate fresh-faced under-exposed ‘noobies’ to the scene.

Returning to the topic more directly, one can have the IQ of a mouth-breather and still pick up on the rather lively exchanges between camps online. Kinsella regularly attacks Kathy Shaidle (if you click on the link, do read the quotes in their original context) and Kate McMillan for their positions, as well as others on his top-ten list. Levant regularly criticizes Kinsella for his actions. Kinsella refutes some of those and takes swings at Steyn. There are, of course, others as well, but I don’t want to complicate anything right away for my burgeoning readership.

In a different setting, the ‘real world’ cloak and dagger numbers we see happening might be construed as interesting, appropriate, or even inspiring. What leaves me grinding my teeth is how pathetic it seems to me that the rivalry blogs of our Canadian pundits have become the basis of lawsuits and legal action. This Kinsella v. Levant is just one example. The IP address post regarding Richard Warman on Free Dominion from a while back that generated legal action was another.

Blogs, though undeniably public, strike me as being something similar to a facebook account or a myspace page (not just because they’re all aesthetic clones, mind you) and, however informative, no more worthy of ‘real world’ attention than their social networking counterparts. Considering that these blogs are so dependent on conflict and appear to market themselves as the dynamic crusader fighting for cause ‘X’, one would expect (and can easily enough claim) that the hissy-fits of a rival would be a value-adding boon. I think we need to see and end of this litigiousness and get back to what we all were apparently looking for in the first place – accusations, rebuttals, and diatribes.